According to Bloomberg, Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve have pledged “to keep the main interest rate near zero for an “extended period” and confirmed that emergency measures to prop up the housing market will end as planned this month.”

Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute took a little trip back in time to check the government’s budget accuracy… they get an F minus. As Walter Williams points out here, this is nothing new, but in 2001, the Bush Administration forecasted that by 2010, the Federal government would have a $2.71 trillion dollar budget. According to Obama’s budget estimate, it will be $3.83 trillion dollars! The following chart shows the real budget vs. the forecast.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner discusses the burdens of his position, why he felt it was necessary to bailout the financial system and the paternal role taken by the federal government:

The carbon trading scheme that passed the House and is making its way to the Senate is a new derivatives market set up at the behest of Goldman Sachs and other major Wall Street financial firms. Out of curiosity, how did the last financial derivatives market turn out? And yes, it is also a regressive tax, (Who do you think is hurt most by higher energy bills?).

This summer, the IRS rewarded Nicolas Cage for his “efforts” with a $6 million tax lien on his New Orleans’ properties for unpaid taxes. So the IRS, lead by tax cheat Timothy Geithner, is cracking down on Nicolas Cage for unpaid taxes. How ironic. Or perhaps, “how fitting” would be a better way to put it. After all, I think Tim Geithner, our spend-happy congress, the Federal Reserve, George Bush and Barack Obama can give Nicolas Cage a run for his money (what little is left of it) when it comes to irresponsible spending. Honestly, look at what our government has been doing:

Like the title says:

Marriage may be a covenant, but legally speaking, it is nothing more than a contract. Thus, since an entity or contract can contain more meaning to the people involved than the actual contractual arrangement written up and filed at the local courthouse, anything that gets the job done can do. Perhaps the very institution of marriage should be opened up to a little bit of healthy market competition from other contractual arrangements.

Statistics about non-economic matters can be manipulated as well. One of the most disturbing is regarding war casualties from Iraq. The government has a great incentive to downplay the number of Americans who have died in Iraq as to make the cost of the war look smaller and not surprisingly, they’ve taken full advantage of it.

But where does a real estate bubble really begin? With low interest rates and additional cash to lend. Now, remind me again: who provides additional money and artificially low interest rates to “stimulate” the economy? That’s right, the Federal Reserve. If the financial crisis, caused by toxic mortgages, derivatives, and credit default swaps, was a giant game, the first play was made by the Federal Reserve. Simply put, if there’s no additional money to be loaned, and no artificially low interest rates to loan at, a real estate bubble doesn’t occur. Speculative manias have to start somewhere. Without a steroid shot of demand, it’s tough for too much mania to ensue.

David Walker, the former comptroller general of the GAO, has said the United States is on pace for bankruptcy. Fiscally speaking, things look really bad. So what should we do? Well, real estate developer Aaron Bistons has an idea and a petition to back it up. Sell Alaska!